PS 

-cm 




CC'CC Cc, , 
Cc cc CC 

cc^cc c 

C C ^ C C Cc . 

C CcCC CC 
C_C(C_C_ C ' 
C C cc C C ' 
C c c C C C( 

C c CCC CC ' 

-^ -- C C C 



C^<CC 

cccccc: 



cc 



cc 

CC 

Cd 

c<. 



cccccc: 

CCCCC' 
CCC CCC- 

ceccc: 

CGCC^ 

CC(CC<: 

C<LC': _ 



re? 

if 

. CC 

^ cc 



ctr cdc c 

c c c c<L c <: 

CC c<rc c 



: cc 

^ c <: 

" CC 

i c' 

Z. cC 

:. c<: 

C cc 

:c cc o c 

=^c c<r c: r 

X ^cC, CC 
' C"^ ^ C<1 c c 

^^^ ^.^^« ^.'^ 

^ <:c c C.3: c 

CO c c^c 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

Chai)._<fe.!*aopyTigTlt No. 



Shelll--- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



'CC 

.ccC'. 

'"' C« <i 



< CCS 

CCe ^ 

< CCC 

cc c 

c c c c 
CCC 

^^% 
^ €^ 

< <c 

ic <S 

re ;< 

c < 

= « cC 



.c cc < 

c cc c 

C" < 
C CC'^-C 
< C C(^< 

C_<'< < 



CCC ^g^ 






^'CCC <c 
cc i< 



ccccc 



n.^K 



c r <5^ 

etc CC 






-<i'# 



^^u^ 



^<^ 









c C c 






^ZCCC 



Cc^<- 






^^ 



C C <C 

i: c c ^^ 
r c c cic 









*< e«:-c<^cs< « 



cc C 
cc C 
CC C 

COC 



< CCit c c 

C^C C C 

' ccc c c 









<_c <c <3e 






<c<xr ^iCi 
ccc^ cc 

ccd^ cc 
Cc^^ <C 
COCC CC 



c ^^A^ 

re < 



WHEN 
JACK COMES LATE 

A COMEDY-MONOLOGUE EOR A LADY 
By HELEN CORINNE BERGEN 

PRICE, 15 CENTS. 





NKW YORK 

EDGAR S. WERNER 









COPYRIGHT 

By HELEN CORINNE BERGEN 

1893. 



WHEN JACK COMES LATE. 



A Comedy-monologue for a Young Lady. 



By Helen Corinne Bergen. 



Scene. — A parlor. Young lady reading book; a banjo near at hand. 

Stage-Business.— Young lady frequently takes watch from her breast ; 
puts it to her ear to see if it is going. Turns pages of book jerkily ; looks 
toward supposed window at the left, Drops book. Picks it up, bott<jm 
side up, and affects to read very diligently. Throws book aside finally 
and rises. 



o 



II, that tiresome old book!I wonder where Jack can be ? 
I've raised the blinds about a dozen times to see 
If he were coming yet. [Listens.] No step is near. 
He said he would come early! Ah, alas! I fear 
He may j^rove false! [ Wilh great fear in voice and expression .] 
But no, [brighte7iing, tossing head^ and langhing gaily] 
that cannot be. 
For I have learned that Jack is constancy 
Itself. But — yet — the girls all say he loved Kate first. 
[Tahes watch from bosom, places to ear and listens attentively.] 
This horrid little watch ticks as if it would burst! 
It wants to let me know the minutes fly. 
And still no step is near! Oh, I — I — I — . 
[There is excellent opportunity for expressive intonation at those 
three "/'6'."] 

Yes, Jack is false ; I feel, I know 'tis so ; 
Well, if he wants to, let him, let him go! 
AVhy should I care? There's Dick and Harold— two — [counts 
on fingers, her doleful expression gradually breaking into 
a smile] 



'Bout fifty others wlio would — well — would do ! 
But still, I must confess, there's -none like Jack. 
Well, I can try and win his false heart hack. 
[Starts tuith sudden co7iviction.\ 
When woman loves, what will not woman do ? 
Could I, indeed, stoop to regain him if he proves untrue ? 
Not I! Oh, I'll brace up and flirt and be as gay — [Saying this 
site sinhs into a chair ^ covers eyes with handkerchief and 
sols violently . Repeat the ivord '"'' gay^^ in along-drawn-out 
soh^ then dry eyes coquettishly and rise.'\ 
Oh, it makes me so angry to act this silly way ! 
[Dramatically. ] 

Why should I care if he never comes again ? 
[With sudden, overwhelming conviction.] 
But I do care and [putting hand on heaf't] that's what makes 

the pain. 
Love is another word for sorrow, anyway. Black 
Is the signal color one should wear. Oh, Jack ! 
Who'd ever dream that you could be untrue — 
[Meditatively.] He said that he'd come early — [angrily] oh, 

he'll rue 
This! [Tur7is toward right; hears her mother call without.] 

What's that mamma ? Trouble enough, I vow. 
Jack said he would come early, and [loohing at watch] it's 8.30 

now! 
What's that ? You've been through all this waiting in your 

younger day? 
Well, mamma, now, honest, isn't it enough to make one's hair 

turn gray? 
Yes, I'll play and sing ! ' twill pass the time away. 
Come, you old banjo — my truest love, I ween ; 
[Seizes banjo imjmlsively, sits down and begins to tune it, solilo- 
qtdzing.] 

Dick used to say — dear Dick ! I treated him [very tenderly] 
awfully mean ! — 



lie loved to hear me sing. Wish I had him back ! 
He was three times as devoted as that horrid Jack! 
Oh, well, it wou't take me long to forget Jack ; I hate 
[At this juncture, she places the head of thehanjo on the floor, 
seizes the neck firmly and screios the keys viciously, on the word 
''hate,'' unconsciously breakiny a striny.] 

llim already; but [tenderly and reminiscently] would have 
loved him had he come at eight. 
[Siyhs and lifts banjo to her lap; beholds broken striny, thrusts 
instrument from her petulantly. ] 

Oh, that -tiresome banjo! the old string breaks, of course; 
Suppose if I try to sing my voice would sound hoarse. 
Like tears ! I am ashamed to care so much, and yet- 
When one has planned to marry one can't forget ! 
lleigho! I presume I'll say like the girl in the song does, 

soon — 
You all know what she says, "I'll marry my man in the [laughs] 
moon ! " 
[Si?iys first verse and chorus of the song. ] 

Oh, i would not forgive Jack now if he came and said 
He could not get here because his rich aunt was dead ! 
I would not speak to him, or smile, or say one thing; 
I'd stare at him like this [stares] and take his old ring, 
And throw it at him, and his letters, too! 
Oh, I know, yes, indeed, I know what I'll do ! 
Thank Heaven, we have in the house a telephone; 
I'll call Jack up— yes, and I'll make him own 
He's false! Or, better still, perhaps he'll say 
He was detained, but will be over right away! 
[Starts to run off, hesitates, comes back.] 
No, I'll not risk it! It isn't safe, I declare. 
For I would find, of course, that Jack wasn't there! 
I despise a telephone! It's such an aggravating tiling to own. 
Bad as the postman, who, every single day 
That one is looking for a letter, goes the other way! 



6 

Ah, postmen and telephones and Jack are false ! 

To-morrow night at the hop {spreading out arms and loaltzing 

a few ste2}s^ I'll waltz and waltz ! 
I'll make him miserable ! I scorn him ! No, I'll not forgive ! 
I mean it this time, mamma, true as you live. 
Forgive? Not if on bended knee in peaceful quest. 
He offered up a box of Huyler's best ! 
[^After ''^ I scorn Mm ^^"^ pause as if interrupted from witliout^ look 
to rights and then apparentlij reply ^ ''■JVo, Pll not forgive ^''^ etc. In 
the line '-'•He offered up^^'' etc., substitute the na77ie of the most popular 
candy -dealer in your vicinity. \ 

I never really loved him, anyway ! 

Mamma, how can you laugh ? I would not say 

A word, no matter how he begged or prayed ; 

Nor how plausible (they are always plausible) the excuses 

made! 
I'll forswear love, become a suffragist ; 

Go out to Kansas ; run for the Senate if the Populists insist ! 
Mary Ellen Lease won't be in it. Simpson, Peffer, and the rest 
May hang their harps on the weeping willow, when I start West ! 
How I could dream of such a common thing as marriage, 

I can't tell. 
The slaves and I are free ! — What's that, the bell ? 
[Tiptoes to left., listening.^ 

His step — his voice — I knew he'd come ! [Addressing mother., 

at right] How absurd 
Of you, mamma! Said I would not say a word? 
[La2ighing gaily.] 
I meant a cross word ; I take all back. 
Ah! [looking at watch] he isn't very late. [Softly, ecstatically.] 

Hello, Jack ! 



WHAT IS SAID OF THE AUTHOR. 



Washington Post.—'' A realistic bit of humor and pathos crystallized into verse." 

Washington Chronicle.—'^ 'All the world loves a lover,' and for this rea-son all the world 
appreciates the realistic humor and pathos of that feminine heart that nms 
the gamut of hope, fear, uncertainty, anger, and final joy ' When Jack Comes 
Late.' " 

Saijinair roi/rjVr-/fcraW.— "This monologue is entirely new, and appeals to theuniversa 
heart. She has written extensively for the Washington and New York press 
during the last two years." 

Laurel Democrat—"- ' When Jack Comes Late ' cannot be surpassed." 

The Prc^s.— "The monologue is a brilliant, witty and wonderfully human little comedy." 

Washington National Democrat— ''The monologue is a bit of pathos and comedy, light 
and airy, in which a most attractive personality is delightfully portrayed." 

Detroit Free Press .—"Though very young. Miss Bergen has already made a name for 
herself in the field of dramatic and musical criticism." 

Soffinaw Globe.— "There is a peculiar charm about her writing that I feel and yet cannot 
fully explain. Sometimes slie takes you into the rush of business; then into 
society; then, again, you feel like a child once more in tlie dim long ago. You are 
going to school, and the suninier days drag by as vou sit on the long bench, with 
your feet scarcely touching the floor; you hear the big blue fly buzzing on the 
window, and outdoors the leaves are nodding in the sumnier lir»eze; yon ramble 
across the meadows and through tlie woods, and hear the sheep bells tinkling on 
the hillside, and away off the lowing of the cattle; and again you feel your 
mother's arm around you and her kiss on your cheek." 

Frederick, Md., Examiner.—" Miss Bergen is a woman with every personal quality that 
makes women popular,— beauty, grace, vivacity and wit." 

Saginaw Evening iVcms.—" Miss Helen Corinne Bergen, poet, journalist, and general 
writer, formerly a resident of Saginaw, latterly making a journalistic strike a« 
contributor to several Washington papers, has entered the lecture field." 

Sunday HeroZd.—" A gifted young writer." 



WERNER'S 

READINGS AND RECITATIONS. 



This series furnishes material for all styles of readers 

and reciters, and for all occasions. Nothing 

is repeated, and every piece is good — 

No padding ! All the pieces either 

are original, or have been 

specially arranged for 

these books, which 

contain 

THE BEST RECITATIONAL LITERATURE. 



^o. 1 .—Compiled by Sara Sigourney Rice. " Ena:lisl» Classics." Specially suit- 
able for schools, as it contains masterpieces of English literature. - 

No. 2.— Compiled by Elsie M. AVilbor. " Ail-Round Recitations." 

No. 3.— "Original Cliaracter Sketclies," by George Kyle and Mary Kyle Dal- 
las, with pieces by other authors. 

No. 4.— Compiled by Elsie M. Wilbor. " All-Round Recitations." 

No. 5.— Compiled by Sara Sigourney Rice. «* American Classics." Specially suit- 
able for schools, as it contains masterpieces of American literature. 

No. 6.— Compiled by Elsip:M. WiLBOR. Specially suitable for Religious Occasions. 
Catholics will find nothing objectionable in it. 

No. 7.— Compiled by Elsie M. Wilbor. " All-Round Recitations." 

No. 8.— Compiled by Jean Carruthers. Part I. of " First Prize Recitation 
Book." 

No. 9.— Compiled by Jean Carruthers. Part II. of " First Prize Recitation 
Book." 

No. 10.— Compiled by Caroline B. Le Row. " America's Patriotic Recitation 
Book." This book supplies material for the celebration of all the natioi.al holi- 
days, and has many declamations. 

No. 1 1 .—Compiled by Sara Sigourney Rice. " World Classics." Specially suit- 
able for schools, as it contains masterpieces of the world's literature. 

No. 12.— Compiled by Elsie M. Wilbor. '' All-Bound Recitations." 



Any number In paper binding sent postpaid for 35 cents; in clotli 
binding, 60 cents; $3.00 per dozen in paper; $6.00 per dozen in 
clotb. 

Address the Publisher, EDGAR S, WERNER, 108 East 16th St., New York, 



<3e- 



^(< 






ll 



^^s^ 



f m 






rifcc^rcc 









t C 



<««■?; *^e<; 



m^. 






'1 



V V 



SMI 



C t CO 



c<!^t<.cc<i; <r <:«cc 






<m^ ^:<i co; < 




< cr c'< 


#7^ ^^ 


>oc crc 


<r^<C2 


cc <rc 


c^c«s 


cc <rxr 


<r«arc cr <rc^ 



csr cc«cc ^c 

C CCOCC <LC 

: cc<cc dc 

<CCCC CC V 






C( < 



^ cf 5r SS^*5^ C^crc 



. <C<^^ cere CC 



^Cf c^ 



CC 
SS ^r ^ <^ CC«CC CC^ 



^ CC «H <L c- 

^ ^^ ^'<^ C 

S' CC, CC C CC 

<^CC CC^O < 



C<5^^ C C C C 
Cca.^C CCC ^ 

r^^ VS ^ c «: 

CCC <" 
c c c 

X CC ' 

.C CC 

c C 



. v<v CC «;. < . , 

<iacC 

CCXCC 

. ccccc <X - 
: CC <c ^c 
<:c<cc %si 

: rcrcc " 

CCCCC 
c ocvcc 
.^ <C CC 

' CC^<C 
<: <cccc 

c c c c c c 
c c C C.C C ' 
c c C c C C 

^ < ^ c < c 



^ c^ccc c c 



. CC €^ CC 
^ cC^c CC 

<r c ^c CC 



\ 



<: <L 



JC CC 

: dc CC c <: 

He CC 

: dC CC c ^ 
V ^^ dC CC c c 

^ <c c:c CC CC 

^^c c:c CC c^ 
^ < dc :xc cc: 



SCCC^ C i 

^ C ^CC c C ^ c< ^^ 

C«CCCCccC « 

^^ ^ C dCCC CCC ^ 
r ' c «Lccc<: CC c ^t 

^ ^ CiP«^C Cr C C< 

. ' < cd«:cc cc^< c dc 

: ' ' C5<s:cc c^ c CC 

' C CC^CC C C CC 



. s <^^cccc ex 

CCC 

:c ' <- ' 

^ ^> <C<CC CC c 
<C <^C CCC 

."^^^'^f /^/^ Jf^ <>ccccWcc 

cdccc cc <?:c cccccccccc ^ 

C^^rcc C C C C <K . CC CCCcVc c C ^ 
cCc C C C C <t CC CCCCCC C C €X 

CC <L^ CCCCCCCC CC <c 

. C C <L C C CC C^^ ' ' 



S dCcC CC CCC 
^ C C CCC C C «^c 

< Cv C C C C C »- CC . 

C d ^. CCCC r^ ' 
c c:c c CC CCC 

c c:^ ( CC CCC ' 

C Cc c CC^cC 
c <:c ». CC «<c 

I. C c. Cc ' « 

C C CC < C 

C C CC c 

. C '^ CC ' 

'.C ^( «^f 

c c 

C< CC CC ' ' 

:( <c CC CC 
: c <c CC 

CC* CC C ^ 
'1 ^^ § 



c <^c:c ( 

: c <cc«:c 

c CCC^Cf 

c CCCcc 

C cCCjCt < 



CC 



CC 
CC ^ 



<c 

CC CCC c 
CCCCCC 
CC CCC c 
cCCCCC 
CC CCC 
CC CCC < 

CC <c c 

CCCCC 
cc CC < 

CC cc< 

CC CC 



CfL C< 

ce c< 



X CC 

C CC «: ' \^ ^ «. C* 
:C CC CCC CG^^ 

c CC c CC r^ 

re c< < re 

c c CC c re c CC c 
CCC < C< C(C CC^ <C< 

CCC ' CC C C C CC ^ c 
CCC CC c c c cci^ c 

< CC CC c ( ccccccc 

^. CC c < c «: Cf < I «- 



liiiifi 

015 7995236 



